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Question regarding Ed Lauter's character Hazel (spoilers)

posted 19 years ago by Renaldo Matlin
5 replies | jump to latest

Now I really like this movie, Charlie is my favorite actor of all times (and Lee Marvin was a bloody cool actor too). Watching Bronson movies through the years I've noticed how Ed Lauter pops up in several of them in supporting roles. I am guessing Lauter and Bronson were friends, I don't have this confirmed but anyways: one thing that did bug me in this movie was the fact that Lauter's character is really the baddie who starts all this crap by taking his men and attacking Bronson's cabin. So why didn't they show a good death scene of Lauter towards the end? Bronson has jumped into the tree to get down the cliff, the stupid plane pilot is attacking, killing one of Marvin's deputies, and Lauter is on the cliff taking a shot at Bronson who fires back and hits Lauter in the knee. Lauter cries out, and then the camera is on Bronson for the rest of the scene as he takes another shot and all we do is hear Lauter still yelling in pain (OFF-CAMERA). There is NO footage of Lauter dying or showing if that second shot from Bronson hit him in a lethal place, he could just be wounded for all we know. Am I the only one who have problems with them not showing the fate of Lauter's character?

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] themoviebuff2003 17 years ago

You're right, it would have been far more satisfying if he'd fallen off the cliff, but since he wasn't in the rest of the movie, my guess always was that Bronson took him out with the second shot, at least a slow-death mortal wound.

[–] carpener 17 years ago

Yeah , it´s strange , but diferently cool.

[–] Bernnard_Black 17 years ago

I always wondered about that, myself. I figured that Hazel was just left behind, with some of the big "possee" that Millen told to go home and that he'd shoot if they followed him. I mean, let's face it; Hazel wasn't going anywhere, was he? Either that, or the second shot killed him.

[–] Squonkamatic 16 years ago

2nd shot, bammo, open up that carotid artery and let him bleed. Like Marvin would have lifted a finger to help, especially after seeing Apollo Creed gunned down like that.